Twelve Intertwined Hearts
by Violletta Storms
Summary: A Pokemon fiction that takes places in the real world. The Guardians are a legend most everyone knows, but is it just a legend? Legend says that when Arceus was in need of twelve Guardians to help spread his teachings across the world, he appointed twelve humans and gave them forms of powerful Pokemon. When he left the world to return to the heavens, the Guardians continued to rule
1. Prologue

The Twelve

"In the beginning Arceus created the heavens and earth. He came from a simple egg; and into a formless, dark world. There, the great Creator hovered over the depths and decided that there should be creation here.

"He said, 'Let there be light.' and there was light to separate the darkness. Arceus saw that this was good. He called the light 'day' and the darkness 'night'. There was day, and there was night. The first day.

"He said, 'Let there be a vault to separate the depths.' He called the vault 'sky' and the depths 'water'. Arceus saw that this was good. There was day and there was night. The second day.

"Arceus commanded that the water gather together to form dry earth. He called this mass 'land'. Arceus also saw that this was good. There was day and there was night. The third day.

Hadn't he heard this already? When he asked to hear the story Grandpa usually told him before bed, he wasn't expecting to hear _the_ Story. The boy was lying in his bed, his eyes straying to the decoration of his walls. His bedroom was decorated in a western and ranch theme. On the walls, cowboys were depicted riding on Tauros, riding on the backs of Ponyta and Rapidash, roping Buofallant, and Miltanks grazing in a pasture. It was a well-done mural; it was painted by his mother.

"He said, 'Let vegetation flourish upon the land to bear fruit and seed according to its kind.' So plants and trees sprouted over the land. There was day and there was night. The fourth—"

"Grandpa, I already know this story," the boy interrupted, his voice straying into a whine.

"Sorry? You already know this? Well, I thought you wanted to hear the Story."

"I do, but I want to hear about the Guardians again. I wanted to hear that story. I didn't mean the actual beginning of the Story."

"You wanted to hear the legend of the Guardians, again? Young one—haven't you heard this story enough?"

"Yes, but that's who I really want to hear about! The twelve Guardians!" The little boy persisted. He was very young, perhaps six years of age. For being as young as he was, he was already handsome. His golden eyes stared up at his grandfather, begging him to tell the legend he so desperately wanted to hear.

Grandfather sighed. He looked down at his grandson with a paternal smile. He resembled his mother in appearance and personality so much. "Very well, Russell. I just wanted to get past you with them. So, the legend of the Guardians…

"You already know the earlier trouble that the world had gone through in ancient times; I don't need to explain that to you. He decided the only way to understand his troubled world was to experience it himself. Arceus used prophecies to foretell his coming; and the world would come to embrace it.

"He came, just like he had said he would—like a thief in the night; born to the world in the humblest of all places. He already knew his mission, and had started to execute it. He traveled around the world, in the shape of a human. Arceus taught important lessons to all of his followers, and when his followers became so great in size, he of course was in need of help of teaching his lessons. And these were—"

"The twelve Guardians! And they were Pokemon too! Not just humans," Russell interrupted.

"Goodness, child, be patient! I was about to get there. One of those days, Arceus had gone out by himself to think on the subject. When morning had arrived, He called all his followers and chose twelve of them and gave them the title of Guardian. No one remembers their names, but they are the Guardians.

"He called a special meeting where all twelve of them sat together with him. Arceus said, 'I will not be here forever, for I leave this world soon. I have given all I can to my people. You, as Guardians, have an obligation to protect my Word and spread its teachings to all of the world for generations to come.' The Guardians simply listened and bowed their head in respect.

"Do you know what Pokemon they had become?" Grandfather asked.

"Yes. They were Mew, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem. That's an easy question." Russell answered with a smile; it gave away his arrogance.

His grandfather resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. "They were each given a valuable lesson and a responsibility to help keep the world in balance. Arceus was still walking the land until one day he was betrayed by one of the Guardians—now of course you remember that Arceus predicted this event. Giratina had gone to the enemies of Arceus who did not believe he was really the Creator and wished to have him silenced. Arceus was captured in exchange for a small fortune. In anger, Arceus ordered his Guardians to capture and bind Giratina. Giratina, however, became guilty of his actions and kneeled in front of the captured Arceus and accepted his punishment. Giratina begged for his forgiveness and Arceus forgave him. He said, 'Because I had already knew of this, I will change you into what you are inside and banish you to a world opposite of ours.'

"Giratina had been changed into a monstrous form and banished to a world filled with chaos rather than order. No one has heard from him since.

"Arceus was tormented and ridiculed by his enemies, and he finally passed and ascended back to his realm in the heavens. He left behind his remaining eleven Guardians to travel the world and spread his Word. That is what you and I believe in—his Word.

"Do you know what the Word is, Russell?"

Russell of course understood this question. His mother didn't teach him, but his grandfather did. He was usually the one that taught him about Arceus and his lessons to his children, "His Word is to have faith in Arceus, for he is the beginning and the end and a god of grace and compassion. Having faith in Arceus will give us a new life as we walk with him through the world and our lives. And when he comes again, we will become part of his new world he has promised us." He recited it perfectly, just like his grandfather taught him.

"Yes my boy. You are a smart, young man. Now, off to bed. Your mother would be terribly upset if she found out I let you stay up this late," Grandfather told him.

Russell was obedient and quickly burrowed underneath the thick winter blankets. His Grandfather held his hand as he said a quick prayer of praise and thanks to Arceus and wished his grandson a goodnight.

As the darkness crept into every corner of the western-themed room, he closed his eyes. Russell imagined the legendary Guardians running wild in his imagination; performing the noble duties and spreading the valuable lessons to everyone from around the world.

The white Pokemon known as Arceus was notoriously light on his feet. He daintily stepped in a straight line as he passed a line of twelve Pokemon. Nothing was said; nothing was heard, except for silence—an unbearable silence that seemed to command the audience's respect totally. When the Creator stopped, the last Pokemon at the end, the ice Pokemon Kyurem, had set his yellow gaze on Arceus.

These Pokemon were gathered in a giant hall that had no walls, but pillars. The walls radiated a faint gold glow, and the pillars glowed with a soft silver radiance. The night sky glittered above them. The view out in between the pillars was only darkness, a cloudy black darkness. At the end of the hall, a wide glass staircase rose above them, leading high above the heavens.

"Arceus, if it is time to retire our long-standing position, who will take our place? How will you choose the new Guardians?" the Kyurem spoke; his voice was low and deep, not wanting to raise his voice above a whisper.

Arceus was silent before he turned around and walked away from the Kyurem. He centered himself so he had full visual of the Pokemon before him. "Yes. Guardians, you have served me for nearly two hundred years. Now, I must say, that it is time for you to retire your positions as Guardians. "

Silence still enveloped the Guardians. Every one of them only gave Arceus their full utmost respect.

"As for how and when the new Guardians will take your positions, it will be soon. I have selected my candidates and they are now learning their purpose as a Guardian and being mentored by the original Guardians; as you all once have," Arceus paused and looked through his servants for one last time. "As thanks for your service to me, I grant you eternal life with me in the city of the heavens."

Arceus approached the first in line—a little Mew with crystal blue eyes. The Mew bowed his head in respect as Arceus created a light that enveloped the Pokemon. The light shined with a holy-like glow. Once the light faded, a young woman, maybe no older than 25 was revealed. The Creator repeated this action to every Guardian, revealing women and men that were all young. They looked up at Arceus and smiled with tears in their eyes.

"You have served well, and although the parting hurts, remember and cherish the memories you had made during your time. For that is what matters," Arceus said looking down at his former Guardians. "Now, it's time for you go."

As the golden and silver hall faded around the humans, some began to really cry. They would miss Arceus terrible. They did, however, have each other now. With their departure, the ninth generation of Guardians came to an end, and the tenth generation began.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1—

The alarm started to buzz its "good morning!" message. The familiar beep, beep, beep was irritating the boy in bed next to it. He got up, and looked at his alarm clock in fury. He reached for the clock, but missed. He tried again, and finally was able to punch the off button so the loud beeping finally ceased to exist. The boy was relieved. He collapsed in bed again.

A minute later, a loud pounding on the door woke the boy from his drowsy daze. He groaned.

"Michael! Get up! You're going to be late for the interview!" Michael could hear the shouts of his girlfriend, Jade.

"Michael! Hey! Your interview with Coach Jones is soon! You need to get up," Jade shook him while Michael lay in bed feeling completely dead to the world. He just looked at his girlfriend and groaned.

"Michael, up. It's taken you forever to get an interview with this coach. Don't you want a chance to be drafted into the team? Michael?"

Michael simply said, "Jade, I have a ton of interviews. It's okay if I miss one. It's not like I'm going to miss out on this one team. Besides, I had practice really late last night. I am tired, and I would really want to go back to sleep."

Jade only looked at him in disbelief. "Michael, I thought you were committed to this! I can't believe it. You told Jones it would be an honor meeting him and having a sit down talk with him. Do you have any idea what everyone is going to think if you don't show up to a meeting in the NBA? They aren't going to think you're going to be dedicated enough to the team if you don't start out right." Jade warned him.

"Jade, come on. I'm the best player in the NCAA for basketball. Everyone wants me," he said in response. "C'mon babe, I'm going to be fine."

Jade only narrowed her eyes with disappointment. "You know what Michael? It shouldn't be my job to take care of your problems. You're on your own. I'm gone." And with that, his girlfriend walked out the door, but that wasn't the only thing she just walked out of. Michael did not realize it at the time.

He turned around and pulled the covers over his head again. Finally some peace. He could finally sleep…

"_Michael, awaken."_

_ Michael awoke to the familiar scenery of a Mediterranean city next to the ocean. The skies were blue, and a few white clouds dotted the blue sky. He could hear the cries of Wingull nearby circling over the ocean. He was sitting on a white marble bench next to a white-walled building with his entire body leaning against the wall. Michael looked at the familiar figure of Matthew with his usual crossed arms and serious expression in the arena they always would practice in since Michael was very young._

_ "I'm trying to sleep," Michael mumbled._

_ "Trying to sleep?" Matthew repeated quietly at first. Michael expected his mentor to soon have a fit. "Trying to sleep? Michael, has everything I taught just gone in one ear and the other? Where is your dignity? Where is your sense of obligation? You have responsibilities Michael. You are almost 25 years old and depending on Jade to be your agent? What kind of man is that?"_

_ Michael narrowed his eyes at Matthew. He got up and walked over to the cross-armed mentor. "Listen to me, Matt. I'm going to be the best NBA player there ever was. I can have anything I want. Anything. Everyone is going to want me on their teams. Right now, I'm at the very top. I'm sorry if I don't have time for your Guardian lessons right now, but I have more important things to worry about."_

_ Matthew stood his ground and stared at his student down. "Don't have time for being a Guardian, Michael?" he asked in casual manner. Michael was aware of the hidden venom in that question._

_ "That's what I said, isn't it?" Michael shot back._

_ The thing about his mentor that Michael was most afraid of was that you can never tell when his anger was growing. You wouldn't exactly know when he would boil over until he did. He was suspecting Matthew's anger was growing very quickly, but his mentor's calm, placid demeanor fooled him otherwise._

_ "You think you'll get by becoming the new Guardian by only paying attention to your basketball occupation?" Matthew again asked coolly._

_ "Yeah, I think I'll manage," his student answered with increased irritation._

_ "Let's test your theory then, Michael. If you beat me in a match, I'll believe you. Remember, your full potential is only reached if you truly understand your virtue, Michael," That last word was laced with obvious threats that Michael was extremely aware of._

_ Matthew turned around and walked away, approximately thirty feet away from his arrogant student. When he turned around, Michael's mentor possessed a look of extreme determination to pound in whatever lesson his student would have to learn; even if it meant humiliating his student. "Are you ready, Michael?"_

_ Michael glared at him with his taunt. "More ready than you will ever be," he challenged. With that, Michael was enveloped in a light and his figure changed to something smaller. When the light vanished, in his place was a small Pokemon, a Mew. Michael barred his little fangs at his mentor, who was also a Mew._

_ "Your move," Michael growled._

_ Matthew was amused at this little thing. How arrogant he was! "It would be my pleasure," he replied. Michael was smart to brace himself for whatever might be coming._

_ Matthew transformed into a Steelix in almost no time flat and whipped up a dense sandstorm that covered the perimeters of the arena they were in. Michael was blinded and couldn't see anything around him; the sand kept getting into his eyes and making them burn from the irritation. The Mew floated there unsure of what to do until he heard the sound of shifting ground and burrowing underneath the earth. He knew exactly what Matthew was up to. He floated high above the ground, and looked down just in time to see the earth explode with—where was the Steelix?_

_ As Michael looked wildly around for the Pokemon, Matthew was already transformed into a Luxray. He performed a simple rain dance and spotted Michael as the sand settled down and let loose a terrible thunderbolt at the confused Mew._

_ Michael took the thunder without warning. His vision went black and he went unconscious for a few seconds before he woke up stunned and slightly paralyzed, but still in the same place he was. Michael's heart was pounding and his head ached from the jolt of electricity delivered to him. He growled angrily. That was a trick Matthew used, a little trick so he had the upper hand. Michael glided himself back down to ground to glare at his mentor. "That was foul play," he stiffly said._

_ "Do you think your enemies will care about the rules when you fight them? No, they will not. They will do everything they can to get you out of their way. That was one of the first thing I've taught you. Do you not recall?" Matthew asked. _

_ This only inflamed Michael more. He lashed out by transforming into a fierce Garchomp and using earth power. It struck Matthew underneath his stomach and made him yowl in pain as he leapt away from his burns. When he did, Matthew transformed into a Rapidash and charged at him. Michael felt intense burning on his stomach area as well and winced in pain. He forgot about the synchronizing ability they both had. Michael grabbed the fiery stallion and swung him to the side with a roar of anger. Matthew was thrown into the side of the building Matthew got up and shook himself off calmly. "That's more like it," he taunted Michael._

_ Michael just wanted to end this fight now. He opened his draconic maw and let loose a jet of fire at Matthew. Matthew, however, knew this was coming. His student was predictable. He changed into a Vaporeon and sprayed the flames down with a wave of water and fired an Ice Beam at the Garchomp. Michael screeched as the ice hit him and froze his legs in place. He didn't know what to do. The little Vaporeon smiled as he approached him and summoned a blizzard move that knocked out Michael completely._

Michael awoke sweaty and breathing heavy. He had lost to his mentor and felt a deep shame. How could he allow himself to lose as badly as he did? He prayed that Arceus was not looking down on his selfish acts.

"_You should be ashamed, Michael. All these years I have been trying to teach you your virtue as best as I can. However, you have posed as my biggest challenge with all of my students. I do not understand. I pray Arceus will show you that becoming a Guardian is a responsibility you cannot simply put aside as you had just demonstrated."_

Michael sighed and got up out of his bed. It was twelve in the afternoon already. He shook his head. His chance on meeting Coach Jones was gone. He did however have a different meeting to attend in about an hour time. Michael began to get ready to make up for his loss.

Michael opened up the door of Coach Finnegan's office at exactly one o'clock in the afternoon. He put on his friendliest smile as he walked in. "Good afternoon, Coach. How are you today?"

"Michael Bellur, just on time. Come, sit down," Finnegan gesturing his hand to the seat in front of his desk. As Michael came to sit down, the coach said, "I heard you missed your visit with Coach Jones today."

Michael suddenly became nervous with Jade's warning. She was right, like she normally was. "Yeah, I uhm, I had a really bad migraine. It was really hard for me to get out of bed this morning." He smiled.

"But you're all better now, that's good. We wouldn't want our favorite basketball star being out during this period of time, hmm?"

"Yessir," Michael only said.

"Well, Mike, I am sorry to inform you, but the Los Angeles Lanturns are no longer considering you as a possible player," Coach Finnegan said.

"What? What do you mean? You guys were the one that's been calling me the most and offering me deals to play on the Lanturns," Michael was in disbelief. It was like a punch in the stomach to him. He was lost for words and only shook his head.

"Yes, well. We found that another NCAA player is more qualified than you are. He was a great record, and he would make the better point guard. I'm sorry," Finnegan explained without a trace of sympathy for Michael.

Michael shook his head. The Lanturns were his second option. He hoped that the Chicago Bouffalants didn't reconsider their deals as well. "I—thank you for you time Coach." Michael got up and shook hands with the Coach and left the office with the door wide open. Michael felt destroyed. He felt in such despair for this new revelation. Someone better than him? Who could be better than Michael Bellus? He reached for his phone in his back pocket. He quickly dialed Jade's number.

"Michael?"

"Jade, I just got rejected by the Lanturns." Michael told her. "They found a better point guard all of a sudden."

"Michael, there's always been a better point guard than you. You don't remember playing against Danny Hough? He's from Harvard."

"Jade, I…I don't know what to do." Michael only said.

"There's nothing you can do. I'm sorry, Mike, I have to go," and Jade hung up. That would be the last time Michael would talk to her.

The next day, his phone would keep ringing bringing the news of his replacement as a potential candidate. He was even had his dream of being able to play on the Buofallants taken away, his favorite basketball team for as long as he could remember. He retired from playing basketball next year, seeing as there was no hope of going on. Michael disappointed his fans greatly. He slowly began to sink into the normal life of a college student. It was all new to him, not being able to be at the very top any more.

_"Michael, have you learned yet?"_

Michael nodded. "Yes, yes I have. My loyalties shouldn't lie within basketball. My true responsibility is to become a Guardian. That's all that it would ever be, anyways. I should have never hoped to become a star basketball player in the NBA anyways."

Michael remembered the time when Matthew first came to him in his dreams. He thought he was a figment of his imagination before he knew he was destined to become a Guardian. It was not the greatest of times for him. Yet again, it was.

It was when he started to play basketball. He began by playing with his friends from around the neighborhood. Now that he really remembered, he smiled slightly of the memories of being able to trade certain childhood Pokemon for whoever won the basketball match. It was a golden time for him; the kids really then began to respect him for his natural talent at basketball.

It was a dark time at home. His mother seemed to always be sad. Sad and filled with hurt. Michael never understood as a child, but he did now. His father always put his work first, and then his family second. Michael's father was always attending meetings, get-togethers with colleagues, meeting other women, and just generally climbing up that business ladder. His mother knew about the affairs, and it brought her down to a point where they separated for good.

His father moved to the city, leaving his mother and him the house. He had not heard of his father since. Michael preferred to avoid the subject of his father all the time. Even if you mentioned "Dad" to him, he would deny flat out he did not have a father.

Matthew's voice whispered in his mind, "_I am sorry, Michael. I truly am. I wish you could have the freedom to do both; but a Guardian is a great responsibility." _Michael lowered his eyes and fought back to feel his hurt feelings on the subject._ "On a happier note, happy twenty-fifth birthday. When you get the chance, please come visit me. We have a very important meeting to attend. It's time for your inauguration as a new Guardian."_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-

_Laura Riscotti_

Laura was driving on the highway home. She kept her eyes on the road, but glanced occasionally at the familiar surrounding that led to her home town. She was driving on the Pacific Coast Highway, and the cool, salty air was refreshing to her. On one side of the highway was the ocean, vast and blue, but the view was blocked by the occasional beach side city with its beach houses. On the other side the towering hills and mountains that separated the ocean air from the dusty dry air of agricultural land beyond. Laura was on her way to the good ol' city of Santa Barbara.

Laura had been away to college at Davis where she was studying Pokemon medicine. In the back of her car was a Poochyena who was busy sticking his head out the window and letting his tongue blow in the wind. He barked a couple of times at the cars behind Laura, but quickly was involved in watching the seaside scenery pass by. The Mightyena Laura grew up with had passed away five months ago during the end of her fall semester and she was now bringing this new little puppy as a surprise for her mother and father.

It was her first set of parents, these two were actually the mother and father who adopted her as a foster child while living with them. She remembered her biological mother very well, and hated thinking of the past memories. In fact, she had a held a grudge against her since she was fourteen years old that had no signs of ending.

The beginning of Laura's life was happy-a mom, a dad, and a little brother. It was happy until they split from the many cases of domestic violence between her mom and dad. Laura ended up staying with her mother; and her brother with her father. Ever since the legal divorce, Laura and her mom became increasingly unstable. Her mom would always be having boyfriend after boyfriend and the relationships always ended in domestic violence.

Laura's mother slowly succumbed to the security of alcohol, and eventually Laura was faced with the problem of trying to become stable herself. She had to force herself to give up on her mom and was taken in her by her aunt whom also had a bit of a drinking problem. It was mostly a peaceful year until one day her mother showed up at the doorstep. Laura was whisked out of her peaceful sanctuary and the cycle of instability began anew.

At this point, she had lost touch with her younger brother. Yet, there was hardly a sibling relationship between the two anyways.

One day, Laura had gone out with her friends to a beach side party. When it ended, Laura's mother showed up to pick her up flat dead drunk. Her friends offered her a ride, but Laura was very proud of herself. She would not let herself be humiliated by her mother. She got in the car and they drove off. Laura later thought she should have chosen to be brought home by her friends. She thought she would have died that night if her mother had not been pulled over. She was charged with a DUI and child endangerment. Laura was then transported to a youth shelter and had to stay there until she was to be moved in with Cathy and Austin Riscotti.

The husband and wife had never been able to have children, so they were open to the idea of foster care. They received a call during Laura's court cases in search of the perfect placement for her. Laura had become infamous for being an easy-to-deal-with child. The rest of the foster children usually had many problems associated with them. Austin and Cathy were thrilled to meet Laura.

Laura thought of her case. It had been awhile since the last time she thought of it. It made her angry and sad at the same time. She remembered her sobbing mother, lawyers arguing over keeping family (as far as Laura was concerned, it wasn't a family) together, questioning case workers, and worst of all, her testimony against her mother.

Being on the stand was extremely difficult for Laura. She had to stand there and pledge her honesty as her mothers lawyer constantly asked her cleverly composed questions that would often lead Laura to say something she didn't exactly mean. At one point, she begged her lawyer if she could not testify in the presence of her mother while on the verge of tears.

Laura eventually won her side of the case. Everyone rejoiced with her. That day, her new foster parents would come to pick her up and bring her to her new home. Laura was very unstable at first, not exactly knowing what to do or say or even socialize correctly, but she soon began to embrace her new life style.

The only problem was her brother now. She tried calling him and reaching out to him. When they did talk, Laura could not bring herself to tell him the news that she was no longer with her mother. When she did though, her brother chose not to speak to her anymore. It gave Laura another reason to succumb to depression, and it did take her a long time to finally accept the loss of her brother. It was a saying that gave her hope: Give me the peace to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. A prayer of serenity to Arceus.

Cathy and Austin had a strong faith in Arceus and continued to make that faith stronger in Laura. Laura really began to pray and praise Arceus each and every day and finally accepted Arceus as the true Creator of the world. When her fifteenth birthday arrived, a ceremony was held to celebrate her acceptance. Ever since then, Laura had thrived in school, the sport of swimming, and life in general.

However, she was not alone coping with her problems. Laura did truly believe that if Luke wasn't always with her-she would not be here today. Luke was her teacher, her trainer to become the next Guardian of peace. He was the one who appeared to her when her life started to slowly head downhill. She had known Luke since she was about seven or eight years old. Luke had been with her through happy times, and through her darkest, especially during her early teenage years. Laura would often have to see him in tears, and Luke would simply hug her and tell her everyday, "You just need to accept it, Laura. This is the way it has to be and you just need to accept it and keep going. Keep moving forward. Do not stop look back on those dark memories now. Please, Laura, do not look back at the destruction of your Sodom."

Lucas-Laura affectionately called him Luke-only appeared to him in her dreams. It normally happened the moment she closed her eyes, and she would find herself in the familiar seaside home of her mentor. He would tell her the tales of Arceus and the legend of the Guardians back in ancient times. Laura laughed now at the memory of trying to understand Luke was the original Guardian of peace.

Laura really enjoyed Luke's company. He was her only friend throughout the years of instability. Luke often would spend days they could have trained laughing and talking-trying to make her feel a little happier, or just comfort her when she came emotionally drained to him. Whenever Laura didn't have a bad day, they usually did train. It was a relationship only Laura and Luke were fully capable of understanding.

Laura once asked her how old Luke was when she was thirteen. He simply replied, "I am twenty five years old." Laura laughed at him though and said, "You've looked exactly the same for the last five years!" Luke sort of smiled and said, "Well, that's because Arceus gave me eternal after our generation of Guardians. So I've been stuck looking the same way I did when he gave us the title of Guardian. If you really want to know how long I've been around, it was twenty five years before what you call the common era even existed. Arceus was eight years old when I was born. He was approximately aged thirty three when he was tormented on the stone table. So you figure out how long I've been around." Laura was in disbelief. So while she was growing up, Luke always remained the age of twenty five.

Now Laura was only two months away from turning twenty five. She had grown to be a very pretty woman, except she was normally modest about this. She had a slim build and was fit because of her regular swimming practice and her work on a working ranch near Davis. She mostly worked with the Ponytas and Rapidashes. Her hair was long and thick; a pretty beach blonde color from the constant exposure of the sun. It used to be a light brown when she was younger. She was a light brown tan in color from the sun as well. Her most striking feature was her blue eyes. Often they were compared to being the same blue color as the ocean. Luke once told her they were the same color as his eyes, and she agreed they were.

Laura put her hair up in a quick ponytail before she pulled in to her parents drive way. The grey Poochyena puppy was barking his excitement and wagging his fluffy tail at a million miles per hour over their arrival somewhere new. Laura turned around to smile at the puppy, saying, "Calm down puppy dog. You'll get to meet mom and dad in second."

Laura put her car in park, grabbed the Poochyena, and opened up the door.

-

Laura was lying down in her former bedroom. It was now made into a guest room so family friends didn't have to sleep in her purple-fied bedroom. The Poochyena she brought (now named Pistol) slept soundly asleep next to her. Mom and Dad loved him. Soon after, she was submitted to the normal interrogation of her well-being. Laura normally replied, "Fine" or "Okay." They ate a great dinner, had some sweet wine (she thought it was funny to now be able to drink with her parents), and played with Pistol. Mom had made her famous home-made cheesecake which they ate while discussing the serious topics of today. When they retired, Laura went to bed with Pistol accompanying her to the guestroom.

Pistol was now snoring in peaceful slumber. Laura turned over on her side and curled up in a fetal position and closed her eyes.

When her eyes opened again, she was standing on the outdoor patio of Luke's home. It opened up to the beach property and the ocean beyond he normally practiced with Laura at. It was afternoon here and the sun was warm on her. She took in a deep breath to take in the salty air. The querulous Wingull cries were heard far above her head as they flew in lazy circles in the blue, cloudless sky.

"Afternoon," Luke greeted.

Laura turned to see the smiling Luke by the patio door. Luke was a handsome guy. Really handsome, Laura thought. Luke wasn't extremely tall, probably two or two and half inches over her height (which was five feet, six inches). He had a very nice jaw line. It wasn't square, but it was still masculine. He had little traces of growth of facial hair, but not much. His hair was dark and thick, a little curly. It was thicker on top than it was on the sides because it was cropped close. His hair was so thick it allowed for a small spray of bangs. His eyebrows were dark too, slightly slanted in a v-shape. He had dark lashes that brought out the ocean blue of his eyes more. When he smiled, it made Laura's heart flutter. It was a beautiful smile; a kind smile that would light up the room. He looked boyish, but not too young. He looked just like his age was, twenty five.

"Hey Luke," Laura replied.

As her mentor stepped down from the threshold of his back entrance to his home, he quickly went over his plans for today, "I thought you would want to go over some aquatic battle strategies today. Do you want to go for warm-up swim? Or do you just want to go practice some other tactics before we get started? I have company here still, and I have to go excuse myself. I thought you might have been here later."

"Yeah, I'm up to aquatics today. And sure, Luke, go finish what you were doing. I'll meet you in the water." Laura grinned and turned to walk out toward the beach.

Luke looked at her for a few seconds before turning around and going through his small home. It was all he needed though, he felt like he needed nothing else, really. He spotted Arceus bowing his neck to see through the window to the back patio. What was he up to? He should know that great white head of his wasn't hard to miss. When he got out front, he just ignored him until he was finished.

"She has grown to be a fine Guardian," Arceus said.

Luke smiled with pride. "Thank you, Lord, but it was you who made her into what she is now."

Arceus straightened himself and looked down at Luke who was now looking behind him to try and see what Laura might be up to. "Do you find her beautiful?" he asked.

The question caught Luke off guard and he turned his head to look up at the Creator to see if he was really being serious. Unfortunately, he was. Luke gave Arceus a wry grin before looking down at his feet. He wanted to say yes, but he was not so sure if Arceus would agree to his attraction. It felt wrong to him. Laura had grown up with him being the mentor, and a friend-not a love interest, well at least that's what he thought." Lord, I-I don't know how to answer that," he answered with traces of quiet shame.

He really did love her. Luke watched his student grow up into the Laura Viscotti she was today. He watched her learn the world and was with her during the tests of endurance Arceus gave her. He was always there for Laura in her times of despair and it only made the bond stronger and his love stronger for her. Luke knew exactly how she felt during the Creators tests of strength and acceptance for he experienced it when he was her age. Luke knew exactly what to expect of her, what certain expressions meant, her virtues and flaws, even her interests. Even their mental bond was much clearer than the other students he had. He was much closer to Laura than any of his students, and he knew it was wrong deep down inside of him.

"Luke, love is a natural feeling. Must I teach you about love again? Do not be afraid to love someone you truly care about. As for your self-assurance of your views as you only being a teacher to Laura, you are wrong. A friend can be much closer than you think. Now, go and teach your student. She is awaiting you," Arceus dismissed him.

Obediently, he started to walk away. He had nothing to say on it, he still felt the same. As Luke touched the handle to the front door, Arceus added, "If I did not want you to love, Luke, I would not have given you Laura in the beginning." Luke turned around to see what he might mean by this, but Arceus was already gone. He was touched by his grace, but still did not know what to think of it.

Luke arrived at his patio, and approached the silver rail that several Wingull were perched on. He leaned against it; his arms crossed and set his gaze toward the wide ocean. He looked over at the other Wingull to find they had their gaze set out on the sea as well. Luke waiting to see what Laura had been practicing.

The smooth blue water was broken by a large amount of white water jumping away from the slick, silver body of the emerging Laura. Her wings unfolded and were powerfully thrust downward to quickly gain altitude, which threw the silver bird higher into the air. Her sinewy tail was positioned in such a way it would help her gain altitude easier. Luke saw Laura as a thing of beauty as she rose into the air with such grace and elegance she worked hard to achieve.

Luke felt his heart tug as he watched the Lugia rise in to the air and watching her soar far above the water. He really did hate only being able to see her available hours. It was a longing for her he could not quench. Luke would always remind himself they were always connected to each other even if she was not here at his home.

Laura tipped her wings slightly as she descended slowly. When she was aligned the way she wanted, her wings folded and Laura took a straight plummet into the ocean; penetrating the water with minimal splash. Luke applauded her performance. It was beautiful. She was beautiful.

Minutes later, the Lugia emerged again from the water and lazy glided her way back on the beach again, where she landed on the sand easily. Her long silver neck extended over to where Luke was and she nudged Luke playfully with her beak parted in to something like a smile.

"An excellent job as always, Laura," he praised her as he put his hand on her water-slick beak. She cooed back in pride.

"Thank you. Now if you're finally done now, may we start so we don't waste this day messing around too?" she teased.

Luke grinned and had to look away for a second to try and hide his embarrassment. Laura had bet him she was the better swimmer and had a long race to prove herself she was in fact, right. She was the better swimmer. He wanted to try and bring down her arrogance just a little, but failed doing so. When he looked back, those blue eyes of Laura watched his in such a placid way it gave him some nerves. "I don't know, you looked like you were having fun out there," he sarcastically remarked.

Laura let out a snort of air that messed Luke's hair up. "No. Let's start."

"Okay, okay. I guess we can," he smiled.

He waded into the water and dived in once it was deep enough to start the lesson.

-

Laura, I have something to give you, Luke called her from inside.

Today was Laura's twenty fifth birthday and she and Luke had gotten back from some aerial combat lessons. She had lost the scrimmage though, and ended up getting thrown in to the water as the losing reward.

"Can you come in here once you are done?" he continued.

"Yeah, just one sec," she answered back. Laura quickly put her hair up into a loose ponytail. She then proceeded to put her tennis shoes on. Her blonde hair was starting to wave like it naturally would. Laura hated her hair like that and usually put it under the abuse of a straight iron. Luke loved it; he would always say her hair looked like the elegant queens back in his day. She would always roll her eyes every time he said that.

She finished lacing up her tennis shoes and quickly stepped into the main room. It was a small room. Most of it was made up of living room furniture. He had a couch, a couple of chairs, and storage jars around the room. He had some paintings he had done himself over the years. They were mostly paintings of Lugia or Wingull. The kitchen was also in the main room, and had taken the space of a little corner. It was mostly counter tops, cabinets, a sink, and a woodstove oven. The dining area was a simple wooden table with maybe three chairs. His little bedroom was just to the left, which was filled with bookshelves of books, more paintings, and his bed. Laura knew Luke liked simpler things.

Luke was standing next to the little stable with his hands behind his back. When Laura came over to him, he pulled out his surprise behind him and presented Laura with a Milotic scale, the scales found at the very tip of the tail.

"Surprise," he smiled.

"Oh, Luke. Its so pretty! Thank you," she said with rushed excitement as she hugged him. Laura took the scale from him and felt it. It was as smooth as obsidian gemstones.

"I had a little help finding it," Luke admitted. "I thought it would be a good gift because I know how you loved those Milotics when you went to the tournaments a couple of years ago."

The scale was long and narrow. It was a deep sky blue and was streaked with a magenta color in the middle of the scales, contrasting the two colors perfectly. It was a pretty gift.

"I love it Luke. Thanks again," and when she turned to look at him, his blue eyes looked right into hers. His hand suddenly caressed the side of her face and Luke leaned in and kissed her.

He was gentle, but let some of his passion flow in to his kiss. It warmed Laura and she kissed him right back. It was a brilliant feeling, and it felt like something deep down inside her just felt right. Their intimacy was short-lived, however.

Luke pulled away with his hand remaining on her cheek. Laura did not say a word, but just looked at him with confusion. She didn't understand exactly the motive behind this, and that was exactly what Luke feared she would react with. He took his hand away and just gawked at her with a sort of dumbstruck expression. He shook his head saying, "I'm sorry. I am so sorry. I don't know what got into me." Luke's blue eyes couldn't find a place to stay on her face as he tried avoiding her eyes.

Laura's confusion only deepened. "No, you don't have to apologize. Its okay. I just-I don't know why. Why did you do that?" she asked.

Luke couldn't really bring himself to answer her. He just stared at her with a loss of words. She couldn't possibly understand. He felt a deep anger and shame start to rise in him from his slip-up. "No, just forget it happened. It never did happen. Laura, you should go. Now. Please. Just leave." He turned to walk in to his bedroom when he heard Laura protest.

"Luke-"

"Laura, I asked you to leave! Is that hard to understand?" He yelled at her and slammed the door. Luke stood in front of his door, leaning against it. He waited a few minutes, and heard nothing from beyond the door. He started to feel guilty again. How could he possibly have just done that? He opened up the door to apologize, but Laura was already gone.

Laura sat on her bed and stared at the Milotic scale in her palm. Her thoughts were in a jumble, most of them were occupied by Luke. She wondered what could possibly be going through Luke's head now. He couldn't hear his thoughts nor even feel his emotions. It was like their connection had been severed from communication. Laura felt alone and lost. She wanted to do something, but it was already five in the morning, she'd have to get up to do some chores in a half an hour. She had also remembered she had to be at the inauguration today.

"Arceus lend me your light," she whispered in the dark morning night.


	4. Chapter 3

_Hunter Jones_

Hunter's fingers delicately traced the strings of his little brother's guitar as he lay in the low branches of an aging oak tree. His loyal Manectric whom he called Manny dozed at the base of the tree, his snout resting on his crossed front paws. Hunter placed his free hand on the neck of the Gibson he held and started to strum a few chords, creating a basic song. It was his little brother's favorite song that he used to play all the time on this Gibson.

The work worn hands fell away from the strings as he gazed over the ranch land him and his dad now lived alone on and ran by themselves. Hunter had to learn to cook meals ever since his mother's death this past year. He often would have to ask some of the neighborhood girls to come and help him with certain meals so he had a wide variety of cooking under his belt.

His mother and little brother had died due to a freak accident while driving back from visiting family in Denver. A semi-truck had slammed in to their little four-door car going past the speed limit while crossing an intersection without yielding first. Hunter's mom and brother had died on impact.

The months following after the accident had been tough on him and his father. Often it led to fights and Hunter often walking out to blow off his anger until he calmed down. He would come inside later to find his father with a tequila bottle, soothing his agitation and anxiety. Hunter felt terrible for his dad. He couldn't imagine the pain he must be going through with losing his wife and one of his sons. Hunter understood, and would hug him and apologize for his actions.

Hunter sat up and slid off the branch landing next to his Manectric. He bent down and patted the electric hound on his withers, waking the Pokemon from his dozing. "C'mon, we gotta drop some stuff off for Dad." Hunter held the Gibson guitar by the neck and moved toward the old Chevy truck he rebuilt himself so he could get himself a car back when he was a teenager. He opened up the door as it squeaked in protest and his Manectric leaped up to the passenger seat. Hunter also set the Gibson guitar down on the truck floor so it leaned against the chair just right, nice and secure.

He went around the front of his truck and got in to the driver's seat. It took a little bit to start the truck, but it got going in no time. His Manectric whined in concern as he looked at Hunter to which he only looked back at his faithful partner. "I'll be alright, Manny. Don't worry 'bout me." The Manectric only responded by resting his snout on Hunter's leg.

He started up the truck and drove off the ranch and headed for the little town of Rosewood.

Hunter was stepping up the driveway of one of his brother's friends—well his old girlfriend. She and his brother had been dating since they were sophomores in high school. He knocked on the great red door of the Reed home, which always felt welcome to everyone. Hunter waited a little bit before the door opened and Lily showed her face to Hunter with a smile. "Hey Hunt, what brings you here?"

"I was in town and you were nearby. I got something I think you should have," he answered without really smiling back.

Lily's smile faded. "Oh, okay, what is this something?"

Hunter gestured for her to follow him out to the truck. Lily obliged, walking beside him as they made their way to the old Chevy. Hunter went ahead and opened up the passenger door and grabbed the Gibson guitar.

Lily's hand flew up to her mouth and her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of seeing Isaac's famous Gibson. "Oh no, Hunt! I can't possibly take that from you. Isaac is your brother. I don't deserve something that special."

Hunter gave her a wry grin. "What will I do with this, Lily? You and Isaac shared some special memories with this guitar. You should have it. Isaac would want you to have it. Keep this so it'll remind you of those special moments you spent with him."

Lily took the Gibson out of Hunter's hands and took in the familiar red and black sunburst design of the guitar. "I can't thank you enough, Hunt."

"Don't thank me," he replied walking around his truck to get in. "I'll see you around, Lily." With that, Hunter started up the Chevy again and drove home. He was thinking back to when the guitar last was heard by a crowd. It was at Isaac and his mother's funeral. Hunter got up in his black clothing and strummed the guitar to the familiar song of Amazing Grace as they lowered the dark-wooden caskets into their final resting places. He remembered crying as he sang the lyrics watching the ceremony take place. His father, after Hunter was done singing, took the first handful of dirt and poured it on top of each of the caskets, trying so desperately not to show his sorrow as he watched the dark curtain of earth fall in to the grave from his hand.

Hunter slowly walked the perimeter of his home, his hands in his pocket and a simple leather jacket on to keep him warm from the cold autumn wind. He was thinking, thinking of how he was going to bed. He knew he had to visit his mentor today, for there was an important lesson, but he was still wide awake. Thoughts of Isaac kept him from wanting to sleep.

The home was still illuminated yellow from his father staying up with some of his ranch hands. There was a meeting going on about the current state of the ranch, and his father wished Hunter not to be present. Hunter only nodded his head, and exited the home as they began.

The black night sky glittered with the tiny white pinpoints of stars sprinkled across the black canvas. The silver cloud of the Milky Way shined the most. There was no moon tonight, so it only made the stars look even more majestic than on any other night. The yellow light poured from the ranch windows of his home, illuminating small spots of grass and the flowers that bordered their home. The barn beyond still resonated with the sound of a Rapidash neighing or even farther beyond in the pasture where Miltank and Tauros slept in the dew-frosted grass.

Deciding that Hunter should kill time, he went off toward the barn. He could hear Kricketot and Kricketune performing their nightly melodies in the oak trees that dotted the ranch, creating a soundtrack to the dark night. Hunter started jogging halfway to the barn, wanting to try and spend more energy to try and tire him.

When he arrived, he opened up the barn doors and walked the middle aisle that contained materials for handling the Rapidash they stocked. Hunter grabbed a bridle, but didn't bother with a saddle, and opened up the stall door to one of his favorite mares. The Rapidash mare knickered upon seeing Hunter and walked up to him, her head lowered. Hunter scratched her nose and the Rapidash responded by puckering its lip out to show that she enjoyed the attention.

"Wanna go for a ride, Ginny?" he asked, scratching her neck. The Rapidash pawed, understanding Hunter immediately. "Easy," he told the mare as he undid the bridle strap and fit the nose piece over her head. The Rapidash took the bit quickly, and raised her neck once Hunter finished tightening the straps just right. He took the reigns and used it as a lead as he guided the mare out of the stall. He led her until he found a step stool to mount the mare since no stirrups were present. Hunter would be riding bareback through the night.

"Whoa," he ordered the mare as he brought step stool closer. He got on doing his ritual three hops before lifting himself over and up on the back. He took the reins and ordered the mare to start trotting away with a few clicks of the tongue.

They mare's mane blazed from the excitement of being able to ride through the darkness. The light of the fiery mane lighted there path as they rode through the pastures and disturbed the cattle Pokemon that tried to sleep. It was a wild fun riding at night, Hunter thought, a wild, beautiful fun.

After Hunter had put away the mare, he slumped down with his back grazing the wooden walls containing the individual fire horse Pokemon. He finally exhausted himself enough with the long hour ride. He fell in to his sleep, expecting in a second or so to arrive at the legendary city in heavens.

Hunter stood on the rooftop lounging area where his mentor, Heres, impatiently tapped his foot. "You're late," he remarked.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. I'm sorry," Hunter apologized. "I had to go on a ride with Ginny again to exhaust myself," he explained, looking down at his feet.

Heres nodded his head, instantly understanding the situation. He came and put his hand on his shoulder. "I know it is hard to lose a loved one so far in to your life. I can only offer my condolences. I am happy to know that it has given you and increased amount of faith, and I have also noted that you are more gracious to others now. Your gift to Lily today was an excellent example. I commend you."

Hunter smiled, showing some happiness in the past week. Heres was the only one to really make him smile these past few months. "I wish I was more like my old self now."

"The inauguration is in a month. I'm sure you will be back to yourself then," Heres told him with a smile. "Now, how about some practice, hmm? You could still work on your aerial combat."

"Yeah? That sounds almost like an insult," he laughed. "I think I'm pretty good at what I do in the sky."

"Oh yeah? Prove it," Heres shot back. He narrows his eyes and a wide smirk spread on face.

"Yeah, y'know, I'll prove it to you. You wanna go?" Hunter challenged.

"You bet I do," Heres answered.

They twosome shifted in to their brilliant plumed forms of the sacred rainbow colored Pokemon, Ho-Oh. The spread their wings and took to the sky, the bright sun reflecting off the gold, green, and ruby feathers of the two birds. The two birds flew apart from each other, giving them each other enough room to think of a strategy and strike at one another.

Hunter turned, swooping his large wingspan back and clawed at the air as he though of a quick plan. He would strike, quick and strong. He slowly pushed himself upwards, ascending in to the air quickly. As soon as he found himself in a perfect position, he folded his wings against his body and dropped down, perfectly aimed at Heres.

Heres took the hit harshly, feeling him drop in the air before he fanned his wings out and caught himself before he really started plummeting. He squawked with alarm as talons grazed his feathery torso. Hunter found himself disappointed that he couldn't perform his follow-up like he planned.

Heres, however, knew the perfect way to retaliate as Hunter flew above him. He opened his beak and let loose a jet of golden flame at the Ho-Oh above. Hunter screeched as the flames singed the white belly feathers, swooping down again. When he fell below Heres, he struck with his black talons out and grabbed his mentor by his left wing. Heres tried to set another stream of flames on Hunter, but Hunter was smart enough to react quickly and swung his teacher down underneath with one powerful twist.

While Heres tried recovering from being thrown, Hunter sent a wicked jolt of electricity at the bird. Heres paralyzed almost immediately, and he dropped. The lightning bolt was enough for him. Hunter swooped down in time to grab his mentor and set him down lightly on the roof of his home yet again.

Heres was still stiff from his electrocution. "Good job, Hunter," he simply said before walking off to rest.

"I know it," Hunter laughed as he changed back to his usual form as a human being from Texas. "Fastest I've beat you, so far." He continued.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4—

_Karlee Saddler_

Karlee stretched herself as soon as she got out of her bed, yawning and reaching up to her ceiling. Her dark hair was tangled and knotted, and her makeup from yesterday was smeared across her eyes. Black tears stained the young woman's face, reflecting his difficulty of last night's events. The thought of this suddenly clouded over her thoughts, and it made her spasm with grief as she felt tears stinging her eyes.

She clenched her fists and bit back her sobs. It wasn't worth it, she reminded herself. Karlee wiped the forming tears from her eyes and took a deep breath. He's not worth her time, she told herself again. Kolaiah had even said so. She didn't have to cry over him, because she had better things to do—like getting ready for the day and going out to have fun. It was the weekend, and a long awaited break from college.

The first day of summer was finally here. She was done with the many assignments, projects, tests, essays; oh she was done with everything! Now Karlee's only desire was to get some jeans on, turn on the radio, pick out a cute top, and call up some friends and head to the beach.

While she picked out a pair of her many sparkly, rhine-stoned jeans, Karlee picked up her cellphone and started to dial up a number as she squeezed in to them. Karlee was an excellent multi-tasker. This skill was acquired after years of junior high and high school constantly in sports and school events such as homecoming, winter formal, spirit weeks, and most importantly, prom.

The phone rang once, twice, three times, and finally she picked up.

"Karlee!" another girl's voice greeted with enthusiasm.

"Hey Abby, you want to head out to the beach today? We'll round up Delaney and Emily to come with us."

"Today? Well, I suppose there's nothing else to do. Why not?"

"Great! I'll call up Emily and Delaney then."

"Karlee, are you alright?" her friend asked after a moment's hesitation.

The sudden question caught her off guard, and she hesitated to answer. "You know what Ab? I've never felt better in my life." The two young women continued to talk about small little things for a few minutes before Karlee hung up after a "See you soon!" She grabbed her car keys, and was ready to head out before she stopped to think about something. Even though it was the beginning of summer, it still got cold at the beach during the night; Karlee planned to be gone all day.

She grabbed a light pink jacket—one of her favorite because it was simple, yet stylish. Karlee headed out the door, not caring to lock it behind her.

Karlee pulled up to Delaney's drive way, the radio on the today's hits station. Abigail was in the passenger seat with her, texting a boy on her iPhone. Abigail was very pretty: strawberry blonde hair, a filmstar figure, and beautiful bright green eyes with an equally beautiful smile. Emily was in the back, with her dark hair in her normal beach wave hairstyle. Brown eyes flitted upwards as she checked to see if Delaney had emerged from her home.

Karlee tapped her finger on the steering wheel, getting slightly impatient. Delaney was always like that. A little bit late. She changed the station as a love song came on, making her want to gag. She suppressed the urge with a furrowing of her brows as she reached for the seek button.

"Hey, I liked that song!" Abigail protested, looking up from her phone as Karlee made the despicable choice of changing the radio station.

"My car," Karlee shot back, hazel eyes set on Abigail's green ones. Abigail made a frown before accepting her reasoning and going back to her phone.

Karlee checked her appearance in the side mirror, running her fingers through her black hair and smoothing it out. She decided she looked well enough. When she focused her attention on Delaney's home again, she had just opened up the door and was running out—her hair curled and bouncing as she sprinted out to the car. She opened up the door and jumped in next to Emily with a, "Hey guys!"

Emily grinned, and Abigail didn't say anything, but Karlee looked back at her with a warm friendly smile. Delaney had been her best friend since the beginning of college. "Hey chica," she greeted back at her.

All the girls turned to Karlee, waiting for the biggest question that they all knew Delaney would be able to get her to talk. Delaney's face turned to a serious one, as she quickly worded her question to where Karlee was faced with an open-ended question in serious need of an answer.

"Karlee, what happened to you last night? You left a message on my phone that had me real worried," Delaney asked, her tone flat and avoiding any kind of offending words.

Of course, Karlee's stupid actions of telling Delaney would lead Delaney to spread the word to Emily and Abigail. It was a circle of friends, and no news from any of them would be kept between two people. It always was circulated among the four of them. It sometimes irritated Karlee to have secrets easily be slipped with the four of them. However, it never leaked out, to her relief.

"Well," Karlee started, looking at everyone. "I'll tell everyone. Let's just drive somewhere first so your parents won't wonder why we're idling on the driveway, huh?" Karlee smiled, and put the car in drive as she turned around and drove away.

The girls were all sitting in a circle outside the car. They had driven by to the nearest isolated beach to discuss the situation that Karlee had gotten in to last night. All eyes were on Karlee as they waited for her answer.

The sun was still high in the sky, and the waves crashed on the shore and crept up the sand before receding back to the salty water, leaving bubbles of foam on the white sand. The highway was whooshing with the sounds of fast-traveling vehicles going by, either heading north of south. The ocean beyond was a dark blue, calm and lovely as Karlee always thought it was.

Karlee was calming herself, breathing in deeply and exhaling out from her mouth. It was a technique she learned from her basketball coach back in high school to help regain her senses faster. She looked at her circle of friends, and decided now was the time to tell her story. "Alright, I guess I have to come out with this, huh? Okay. Here I go.

"Last night, I got home on my normal time after all my final exams were finished. Christian wasn't there yet, so I had some time to get things together before I started making dinner. Well, when I set my stuff down, that's exactly what I did. I decided he might like…actually, I can't even remember what I was going to cook because I didn't even get to prep it.

"Christian walked in, drunk as heck. He slammed the door shut and collapsed on the couch as I was doing things in the kitchen. I turned around, and found him staring at me with that glazed look people get when they're drunk. It made me mad, because Christian doesn't normally drink like this, but it made me really worried too. For the same reason, he doesn't normally drink. He hardly drinks at all, to be perfectly honest. I didn't say anything, but turned around to continue what I was doing.

"I heard him get up and saunter on over to me in the kitchen. He grabbed ahold of my shoulders and sort of took me back and he took me and kissed me. Real rough, and it hurt. I tried getting him off of me, but he only insisted."

Delaney's expression darkened, fearing the worst. Karlee was having a hard time going on, and she gave Delaney a look that confirmed her fear. Her eyes widened in shock and then narrowed in disgust and hatred as Karlee's best friend thought of Christian. Delaney made no sound, however, keeping her thoughts to herself.

"Christian just took me and shoved me up against a wall. I tried squirming away from him, and I managed to, and tried getting away, but you know Christian. He's a fast sonofabitch. He shoved me and pinned me down to the ground. He got excited…and he proceeded to try and tear my clothes off. I started screaming at him to get off, but he wouldn't listen. I didn't want to have to beat him off of me—but he left me with no other choice! I kicked him, real hard. Christian started screaming at me and well, I guess actually got in to a fight. He tried punching me, but he was so goddam drunk he couldn't even get me. I think I nearly beat him black and blue in my self-defense.

"I grabbed my phone and called the police. They came fast and took Christian away and hauled him to the station. I panicked and that's when I called you Delaney, all tears and probably not being able to hear me. I know you were out last night—and I'm sorry. I just—I don't know. Now long though I passed out waiting for you to call me back in my room."

Emily and Abigail both stared at Karlee in amazement. "What a little—" Emily started to say but left the rest of her sentence to be filled in.

"A scumbag," Abigail merely commented.

"So, what are you going to do now, then, Karlee? I wouldn't want him coming back home if I were you. He tried raping you. And of course you're leaving him; I'm not letting you consider any other options. Have you told your mom and dad? They have to know," Delaney told Karlee, coming over to her to give her a hug.

Karlee gave Delaney a big hug, not really wanting to let go. Tears stung her eyes again, and she finally allowed herself to cry her pain and loss of Christian. "I just—I just can't believe it Delaney!" she cried. She said nothing else as she descended in to a series of wails and sobs as Delaney hugged her tight. Abigail and Emily approached with caution—knowing full well that they didn't share the same bound as the two had. They whispered comforting words to Karlee, trying their best to offer some comfort.

When Delaney pulled away, Karlee started to wipe away her tears with the palm of her hand, careful to not smear her make up again. "You should tell them," Delaney repeated.

"Karlee, you have to move out. You can't still be living with him," Emily broke in, her eyebrows furrowing in frustration from the entire situation. Her dark brown eyes were fixed on Karlee's hazel ones as the two young women looked at each other.

Karlee had to tear her empty gaze away from Emily, wanting to cry. "You guys…I have to tell you something. I am going to move out, but I have nowhere to go—"

"Karlee! You have a place with me if you want," Abigail protested.

"I'll get an apartment with you. So maybe I can leave my parents alone for once," Delany offered, rolling her eyes at the thought of her mom and stepdad.

"You can also move in with me, but you'll probably want to be with Delaney the most, huh? Karlee, we all love you. Never think we wouldn't want you with us. We've been friends since freshman year of college," practical Emily reasoned with her, a small smile on her face.

"You guys—thank you—but, you don't understand…I—I'm going to be a Guardian," Karlee suddenly confessed, looking at Delaney straight in the eyes.

"A…Guardian?" Delaney asked, uncertain of what to make of this. The other girls looked equally confused, staring at Karlee with perplexed faces.

"Yes, a Guardian. I've been training to be a Guardian since I turned eight. I'm going to be the Kyogre Guardian. It's from the Word of Arceus," Karlee answered. Delaney's face softened in to understanding, but she still was confused.

"I though the Guardians were only a story?" she asked Karlee just above a whisper.

"It's not, Delaney. It's very real. I am the tenth Guardian," and with that start, the girls huddled close with one another as Karlee began to unveil her secret life.

Karlee stood near her mentor, hazel eyes narrowed and set on the sea. Waves crashed against the rocky cove, sending curtains of white water upwards and raining down on the Pokemon settled on the rocks.

"Karlee," Kolaiah began her voice barely above a whisper. "I am not upset that you have told your friends the truth, but you better hope that they make the wise decision to keep their mouths shut. You have no idea the consequences you have set up against you if things had decided to take the wrong turn." Her raven-haired mentor turned to look at her, hazel eyes grabbing her student's attention.

Karlee looked down at her shorter mentor, having to turn away for a second with the burning sense of shame. Karlee had to tell her mentor what she had told Emily, Abigail, and Delaney. It was only right. Now she felt it was a mistake she would eventually wished she never made.

"Do you understand me?" Kolaiah asked her sternly.

"I do," Karlee replied, forcing herself to look at her. "I'm sorry Kolaiah."

Kolaiah's face softened, feeling that Karlee was actually being sincere. She shook her head and looked toward the direction of the ocean.

"Arceus be with you," Kolaiah replied.

Karlee got the point. She was dismissed for the night. They put in a full amount of training since the moment Karlee had went to sleep for the night. She was exhausted now, and it would have been a great idea for her to actually sleep the rest of the night. Karlee left, without saying goodbye, as was the custom between mentor and student. Their relationship had always been quiet, but there was always the deeper bound that ran underneath the silence. It was a lesson in itself, one that Karlee had yet to understand.


	6. Chapter 5

It was hot.

The heat of the day showed no signs of giving in as it beat down on Garrett. He was stretching himself for a quick warm up before his ritual game would start in this wretched heat. All the boys agreed to hold their weekly Friday game at the very hottest part of the day-which was from two in the afternoon extending to six in the evening. There would be no quarters, no time set to when to stop playing until it was six o'clock. No breaks except for time-outs called by the quarterbacks of the other skirmish team to plan ways on overwhelming the opposing team. To make up for no breaks, each team was allowed an unlimited amount of time-outs, as long as they were to plan or talk over certain plays they were going to execute. Once the game was over, they would spend the night hours talking and just spending time with each other. Except they called it "team-bonding". It didn't sound quite as masculine when the boys were going to go "go out". But that was their opinion. Some of the boys would pull out their Pokemon and have a quick battle with each other. They often drew ideas for other plays while pitting their Pokemon.

In the distance past the cardinal red track that encircled the football field (they called it the Pasture) a watery haze was rising in to the air. Even though it was only a simple mirage everyone from the central valley is familiar with, it appeared that even the earth underneath Garrett was evaporating underneath the crippling one-hundred-and-five degree weather. The only person that seemed to not mind the heat was Garrett. He loved the sun-blazing heat of the day, and was all for playing a long game of football at this part of the day.

He felt his calf muscle finally give in to the stretch, so he shifted himself to another stretching position to work on his thigh muscles. He was on his back in the grass, and extending his left leg up in the air and over when he heard one of the boys approaching, his shoes crunching underneath the dry yellow grass.

"Early as always," he greeted him with a smile as he helped Garrett with his stretching.

"Yep," Garrett agreed, wincing as he felt the familiar burning as his leg was brought back. "Any of the high schoolers coming tonight?" he asked, looking up at his friend.

"I think so. I got messaged by Marcus saying that quite a few of them wanted to practice with the big boys," his dark-haired friend laughed out loud. "Remember when we were playing for the Braviaries back in high school? We always bothered the college boys."

"How could I forget that, Rus? High school was a blast with you."

Russell smiled, releasing Garrett's leg from the agonizing stretch he inflicted upon himself. Fond memories of chasing after girls and afterschool football practices ran through his mind. He didn't miss highschool, but he did miss the fun he had. Now the two best friends were adults and playing for the college football team, the Fearows. They both were enrolled in the pyschology program offered there, but they were really only able to go to school on their footbal scholarships they had worked so hard to earn.

Garrett got up, shaking himself off. His cinnamon-colored eyes met Russell's golden eyes for a brief second before the sound of a honking car was heard in the parking lot. High schoolers. That was their way of letting them know they were here. It was nearly two now, and the two boys started growing restless with the excitement of another long game.

Garrett was standing, eyeing the quarterback on the other team, wary of his movements. He glanced over at Russell for a second with a smile. Garrett was already sweating, but he loved being able to work himself in a good game. So far, it had been tough. Russell's side had already gotten two touchdowns. Garrett's team failed to deliver. And now it was switched because their team had gotten ahold of the ball during a play and had scored yet again.

Russell winked at him from the opposite side, his red jersey stained with black marks already. His helmet was also stained with the same black marks. He was standing in his usual spot for being the wide receiver. Russell's left foot was out, and his right foot frozen in a stance that made him look ready to run a big dash.

Who knows. He tensed himself, ready to execute the blitz play he was told to do. He was poised, ready to just drive himself through the formation line of the offense.

Russell gave one last look at the quarterback, Marcus. He looked at him, with a straight face and nodded very subtly. Russell hunched down lower, ready to take off as soon as he felt the ball come in contact with his hands.

It all happened at once. Both front lines came crashing together in a second. They just launched at each other. Russell glanced at Marcus, and he tossed the football towards Russell. Russell's hands flew out to grab the ball and he didn't even have a firm grasp on it before he took off sprinting around the other players and towards the endzone. He heard the crash of someone colliding with Marcus and tackling him to the ground. Russell also heard the sound of a player screaming to get him. Players who were watching from the sidelines were screaming and jumping up and down watching the play unfold. Russell was almost there, and he started celebrating as he ran before it all interupted by a force hitting him and knocking him down. Russell held on to the ball for dear life, but it slipped out of his grasp and tumbled away on to the grass as he was tackled.

Players on the sidelines erupted in yelling their excitement. The other players were groaning, for all the running Russell had just did was in vain. Garrett was celebrating, high fiving some of the other defensive players. Another player who had his helmet off jogged up to Garrett in the field with a cellphone in his hand. Garrett gave his a look, and his face lost his excitement.

"Game's over. We're out of time," he said.

Garrett looked in the other direction toward the offensive side, and they started screaming and hopping around in celebration. They still won. He muttered something terrible. Marcus was celebrating, but it was short lived. It wasn't a real game anyways.

Russell was sitting on the tailgate of his truck, chugging down a large bottle of water. It was now dusk, and the sun was disappearing behind the mountainous horizon. The temperature was jumping down now, but Russell was too sweaty to grab his hoodie. He had his gear off, but he still had his jersey on. Sweat stains were everywhere, and his jersey was extremely filthy. He would have to clean it when he got home tonight.

All the other football players had their cars parked in a large circle, with the car doors open, or their tailgates down. Somebody was playing a playlist of rap songs in a truck. Russell really did like this song. The school staff didn't mind all the boys coming all the time during the summer, it was tradition since the school was established here in 1984. The coach back then himself had started the tradition, inviting all his football players to practice during the summer in the heat. He often would tell them that real practice was doing it in extreme conditions, so it made all the other times easier. Once those players graduated and played at the college if they went there, they would still come back and play with the other high schoolers. It was a brotherhood for the small town. And many of the younger boys in the junior leagues often looked forward to their freshman year at the high school.

Garrett jumped up over the side of the truck and on the bed, standing up. He had just gotten back from switching the familiar Friday night lights on the field so that everyone could see better. With his natural leadership skills, he silenced the players and the music was turned down low. Russell looked up at him, secretly wishing he hadn't chose his truck to stand up in.

"It's been a week, guys. A week of this hot summer weather. What's new?" he started off sitting down on the roof of the truck.

Marcus stood up straight, as if waiting to share his news, and called out loud and proud, "My brother finally got himself a girlfriend!"

All the guys laughed and looked in his brother's direction. Poor Robbie was hunkering down embarrassed and turning red. The other sophomores hooted and jeered at their classmate's news. Robbie smoothed out his blonde hair and looked at Garrett with a shy smile and looked at the others. "Yep, yep I do." he confirmed.

"He's getting it done!"

"I think he should share the name of his girlfriend!"

"Way to go Rob!"

Robbie smiled and cracked his knuckles before saying, "Her name's Kylee."

Russell joined his best friend on the roof of his truck, playing with the football. He had a huge smile on his face as he heard the news of Robbie's new relationship. "Way to be, Robbie. If I'm right, that's Lexi's younger sister, right?"

"That's right," Marcus and Robbie said at once. They looked at each other in irritation.

"Nice," Russell commented with a smile before passing the football to Marcus. "What's your news? We're looking for something about you, not your brother." he laughed at him.

"I didn't really do anything except go see a movie with Kenna. That's about it," he shrugged and passed the ball to another guy.

"Let's hope you weren't up to no good after that movie," Brandon joked as he caught the ball. "I went out on a date with the mayor's daughter. She's pretty hot, and she's a Pokemon trainer. You never see those anymore." He fiddled with the ball as the boys howled in approval.

The football was passed around, and each of the boys got to share some piece of information to the large group of friends. A small battle started between two of the guys, but it was pretty quick because one of the Pokemon was more definitely more powerful than the other. Jeering and teasing was thrown as everyone watched the battle between the Mightyena and Luxio. The freshman with Mightyena had gotten cocky and underestimated the power of the unevolved Luxio. The senior student began laughing, promising to give tips to the freshman boy.

When eight o'clock rolled around, some of the football players took off, promising to come next week. No promise was necessary, usually the regulars came by all the time.

Russell decided it was time to go. He said his goodbyes to Garrett, and actually gave him a hug. He knew it was certain that he may never get too see him again after the end of this week. Garrett hugged him back, not really knowing why his best friend had hugged him.

Garrett got home setting his keys down on the kitchen counter and removed his jersey and just threw it in the washer. The capital white letters of his last name was stained with the red dirt of his good ol' high school. He was thinking Gabriel would be increasingly impatient if he wasn't there now. His mentor had always been strict with when to show up and when to leave. Garrett had no idea why.

He grabbed some water, and retired to his bedroom.


End file.
